Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-11-08
A WANDERERS RETURN
California and Texas Contrasted-Ne
Money for the Poor Farmer on
the Pacific Coast.
Advantages Offered by Coleman County
Which Can Not be Equ aIled-Che Place
for tbs Man OF small Means
COLEMAN, TEX, Nov l. 1857.

Editor Coleman Voice:
Having recently returned from the
various Glands of BOOM" have NO doubt
your readers would be Interested in re-
cital of my experience.
Indeed am questioned so much and SO
often that take this method, IS a relief
to myself, to tell those interested once
for all Whist know, and be done with it
MY wsndeTings have not been confined
to California alone. Satisfying myself
with that country early in the summer,
visited also Oregon, where spent month,
and on returning to San Francisco babe
farewell to the Pacific slope, and via the
Central Pacific journeyed homeward.
Since then have been prospecting in
Georgia and Alabama. sojourned few
weeks in Tennessee, and paid visit TO
my old Kentucky home.
have seen some good country, much
that is tolerable, and vast amount that
is very Indifferent.
When 1 abandoned my old home in the
winter of 1885 1 determined to find 8
country to suit me before finally settled.
had heard Of Coleman county through
friends residing here, and made up my
mind to visit it first. On my arrival l
was of course disappointed. Hard dry
nOrthers succeeded each other with dis
gushing regularity. The spring opened
dry and discouragiDg. Weeks snd months
passed but not drop CT rain to cool the
parched and crisp prairie. The
crops that peeped above the
ground withered and died in the
first effort. The summer passed as it be-
gun. The drOuth WAS upon you and l SEW
nothing to invite me to remain My won
dering was renewed; the further west
/ travelled the worse the country appear
ed, and I, with my fellow travellers, con-
Guided that it was but question Of very
short time when every hoof Of stock
would die and the whole country be absn-
doned.
All along the line of the Texas and Pa
cific I saw little or no improvement. San
Francisco was prosperous apparently, but
was not looking for city home. On
the route from San Francisco to Los
Angeles the prospect changed. looked
upon Los Angeles as the Eden was look
ing for, and it is indeed inviting. But it
was after all not the place for me.
l thought myself in pretty fair circum-
stances for young Kentucky farmer, but
my whole capital would not have secured
me footing in that vicinity, nor bought
me so much as respectable garden patch.
There are some lovely places here and
the climate is delightful, but it would re-
quire the means OF a frst-clsss abscond-
ing bank cashier to purchase q little
farm. The people are all rich or very
poor. The large landlords, orcherdists
and vinyardIsts make money-they are en-
gagged IN packing or are Interested in the
fruit packeries, and where they are not so
interested their gardens are run more
for pleasure than profit and are ready to
be sacrificed any day to q speculative
paper town site. They tell me there is
money in some Of the great wheat fsrms l
pAsse through, and also that there are
frequent failures; but there is no money
for the small farmer at anything. At
best he is scarcely paid for his labor, for
ne is at the mercy of syndicstes and gets
just what they please to offer him either
foT his wheat, fruits or vegetables. No
gardner or farmer in the old states could
1--we at the price paid here for produce
and yet this produce comes Of of land
rated and taxed at q valuation of $500 to
$4,000 per acre.
The poor farmer will be poor always in
California.
Itook a trip down to San,Dlego Just
I thought the people there were all crazy.
They were all booming and could see
nothing to boom. But l could see that
land spectators and railroad companies
had considerable TO do with it. thought
the people crazy but sitter all, believe
was the only idiot there. Had l taken
the Infection and invested what money l
had in what l unfortunately considered
the widest Of wild schemes, and yet re-
tanned sense enough to pull out Of it at
the proper time would now have been
able to make selection Of the finest plan
tatioa around Los Angeles and have
thousands still TO spare. But was not |
Yankee enough to see thousands in IN
trInsicelly worthless clay or sand banks. |
The bubble will burst before many
months are gone and thousands of the |
last to bite will never chew the morsel. |
No boom ever fell so fist as the Southern |
California boom will fall. 1t is useless |
to go into particulars about this, the |
papers have been discussing it for q |
month or more and they give pretty |
correct picture OF the situatlon.
My trip to Oregon di not impress me !
fsvorably with the country. There are
lands as rich as 1 ever saw, but they are |
pretty generally in the hands of specu-
good lands not under their control, but |
they are situated hundreds Of miles from |
anywhere.
Timber, the finest in the world, is here |
in unlimited quantity, but. it is more in
the way of the settler than otherwise, for |
he can make no profitable disposition |
of it.
The development Of Oregon depends
upon railroads and the land will then BE- |
valuable for its timber when transports-
tion is available.
In the towns, as in California towns, 8
southern immigrant must cease to be
southern man. II he rides in railroad
coach, sits at hotel table or visits the
opera or theater, he may expect to be
seated along side greasy negro, and If
he don't like it he can get up and leave.
The ways Of the people are not our
ways aud it hard for southern peo-
pie to adopt them. AS for me, l found
nothing in the world to induce me to stay
and hence you find me back in Coleman,
where have at last concluded to make
my permanent home.
Teeeuro vor that did NOT cornp S0 fhis